Solar

The team of researchers, from the University of Cambridge and the United States, have used theoretical and experimental methods to show how bismuth – the so-called “green element” which sits next to lead on the periodic table, could be used in low-cost solar cells. Their results, reported in the journal Advanced Materials, suggest that solar cells incorporating bismuth can replicate the properties that enable the exceptional properties of lead-based solar cells, but without the same toxicity concerns.

At Intersolar North America in San Francisco the Freiburg-based company group, consisting of the mechanical engineering company M10 Industries and the solar module manufacturer SI Module, will be showing its product range for PV automation and building-integrated photovoltaics from 11th to 13th July 2017 (booth 9011).

Scientists have designed and constructed a prototype for a new solar cell that integrates multiple cells stacked into a single device capable of capturing nearly all of the energy in the solar spectrum. The new design converts direct sunlight to electricity with 44.5% efficiency, giving it the potential to become the most efficient solar cell in the world. The approach is different from the solar panels one might commonly see on rooftops or in fields.

An advanced microgrid will be provided by ABB to WEB Aruba N.V., the main power utility serving the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba. ABB’s software, automation and control technologies will help WEB Aruba integrate solar and wind energy, forecast and plan better and optimise operations in real-time, while meeting Aruba’s growing demand for electricity. The island is 32km long and 10km across its widest point. It has a land area of 179km2 and a population of about 103,000 inhabitants.

Solar films manufactured by German company Heliatek have been installed on ENGIE Laborelec's building in Linkebeek. The HeliaFilm organic films have been incorporated into the façade and windows and will enable the testing of new solar technology systems. The energy sector is in rapid transition, meaning that in the future energy will no longer be generated and consumed in the way that it is today. Against this backdrop, in 2016 the ENGIE Group acquired a 6.6% stake in Heliatek, one of the world leaders in the production of organic photovoltaic (OPV) films.

By applying a solar cell technology, researchers at Princeton University have developed a different type of smart window: a self-powered version that could be inexpensive and easy to apply to windows. This system features solar cells that selectively absorb near-ultraviolet (near-UV) light, so the new windows are completely self-powered.

Telecom operator from the South of France, NETIWAN, has been assigned to JERLAURE for the design and building of its future proximity data centre, which will have the particularity to be directly cooled by the sun's heat.

Virtually all of the grid capacity being added in the world is renewable or nuclear nowadays. Solar and wind met 10% of electricity demand in March 2017 in the USA. Hydro electricity from a wet spring season on the West Coast, which alone provided more than 10% of the nation’s electricity, as well as biomass and geothermal power, all renewable energy sources combined met 24% of electric demand in March and if we add in the 20% we get from nuclear power, 44% of electricity demand in the USA was met with non-fossil fuel electrons.
By Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx

As NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft begins its first historic encounter with the sun's corona in late 2018 - flying closer to our star than any other mission in history - a revolutionary cooling system will keep its solar arrays at peak performance, even in extremely hostile conditions.

A Leeds-based solar power company Xero Grid is behind the largest solar installation in Ghana. With Ghana experiencing an erratic power supply and regular blackouts known as ‘Dumsor’, a local woman reached out to the Yorkshire outback specialist to help take the power into her community’s own hands.

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